Without a moment’s hesitation, Vincenzo Montella sprayed the most audacious of diagonal switches in behind for his revered strike partner. The weight of the pass was so perfect that the receiver required just two touches to outwit a Parma defender and beat Gianluigi Buffon at his near post.
An already raucous Stadio Olimpico burst into a heightened state of frenzy.
Gabriel Batistuta’s 20th goal of the 2000/01 Serie A season all but sealed Roma’s third Scudetto on a sweltering mid-June afternoon in the capital. Fabio Capello was a champion again, and the Giallorossi had reached the pinnacle of calcio for just the third time in their storied history.
For Roma supporters, such success was necessary following an albeit brief period of Biancocolesti supremacy. Their fiercest rivals had emerged as financial behemoths under Sergio Cragnotti and their time in the sun culminated in a Scudetto triumph at the turn of the Millennium. While Lazio’s brilliance was hard to stomach, Roma themselves were building something majestic on the other side of the Derby della Capitale divide. Capello, previously a stubborn 4-4-2 pragmatist, opted to build his side around the divine trequartista Francesco Totti in a 3-4-1-2.
Capello’s systematic switch shone the light on Il Capitano, who was ably supported by a hard-nosed defence, a pair of flying wing-backs including Cafu and a group of forwards that was bolstered by the arrival of Batigol in 2000. While Totti was nothing short of mesmeric, Fiorentina icon Batistuta proved to be the difference as Roma usurped Lazio as champions in 2001. A 3-1 victory over Parma on the final day ensured they pipped Juventus to the crown.
Describing the scenes in the capital at the time, football journalist and calcio enthusiast James Horncastle said: “The celebrations were bigger than when Italy won the World Cup in 2006. That was a party for weeks, you know, sort of to the point where it was really hard to get to sleep, with cars honking horns all the time, mopeds just burning up and down the streets. It was just a noisy atmosphere that whole summer.”
Many believed it was the start of something special in Rome. Perhaps Capello would play the role of Octavian and forge an all-conquering Empire?
But that simply wasn’t the case.
In the wake of their third Scudetto, Roma have emerged as the bridesmaids of calcio. They’ve failed to win another league title despite finishing second on nine occasions! And while there were times where they were comfortably second best, a couple of campaigns do distinctly stand out as missed opportunities. Luciano Spalletti’s borderline revolutionary 4-6-0 almost inspired the club to the Scudetto in 2007/08, while a late collapse from José Mourinho’s treble-winning Inter Milan almost let the Giallorossi in at the last two seasons later. Antonio Conte’s record-breaking Bianconeri thwarted an excellent Roma outfit in 2013/14 before Spalletti was pipped to the post by Massimiliano Allegri’s Old Lady in 2016/17.
An impressive Champions League run in 2017/18 succeeded years of domestic heartbreak as Juventus continued to win with unrelenting efficiency before the Romans embarked on a tumultuous period that culminated with the appointment of a certain “special one” in 2021. Some regarded the move as an act of desperation from the Friedkins, who had seen Lazio rise to prominence once more with Simone Inzaghi at the helm. The balance of power had shifted in the capital, but it was Roma who had a joker up their sleeve.
There had been some signs of progress under the progressive Paulo Fonseca, but Roma’s defensive frailties with the Portuguese boss at the helm in a country which fetishises the denial of attackers meant his tenure was never going to be overly prosperous. Fonseca’s Roma boasted the joint-second worst defensive record of top half sides in 2019/20, then the worst in 2020/21. He departed the club having overseen fifth and seventh-place finishes.
Roma were light years away from their ultimate goal, but the demise of a manager on British shores presented the club with an opportunity.
There quite possibly hasn’t been a coach in the sport’s history that divides opinion like José Mourinho. Regarded as a has-been by some, especially in the media, but treated like a God in some parts of the world; the Roma boss is a walking dichotomy. However, there are no doubts as to how he’s regarded in the Eternal City. There are Tifosi proposing to their partners in front of the great man, for God’s sake. He’s the second coming of Christ in the capital!
José’s debut season at Roma was laden with peaks and troughs. There was the defeat in Venice and the worst loss of his managerial career in Norway, but then there was the emphatic Derby della Capitale triumph that offered a glimpse into the Giallorossi’s future under the Portuguese boss, who ended his five-year long silverware drought by guiding the club to Conference League glory in Tirana.
Mourinho’s switch to a 3-4-2-1 midway through 2021/22 brought greater stability to Roma’s ranks. Nicolo Zaniolo enjoyed a resurgence alongside the brilliant Tammy Abraham up top, while Lorenzo Pellegrini often channelled his inner Totti to inspire the Romans. His free-kick in the derby was a standout moment last season. Crucially, Mourinho’s systematic alteration stiffened up a previously porous defence, which ended the campaign as, statistically, the sixth-best in the division.
European glory at the campaign’s epilogue morphed a decent season into a hugely successful one for Roma, and the excitement is palpable among supporters heading into 2022/23. Despite spending a mere €7m, the Giallorossi have added Nemanja Matic, Gini Wijnaldum, Zeki Celik and Paulo Dybala to their ranks. Roma are building a side in their manager’s image – just like Inter did in 2009. José has his elegant enforcer in Matic, a savvy space interpreter in Wijnaldum who can perform a variety of functions within his system, as well as a once revered superstar in Dybala. La Joya’s the profile of player who, in the past, Mourinho has got the best out of. Think Deco, Wesley Sneijder, and Mesut Ozil.
This Roma team, on paper, is well-balanced and some would argue that they boast the second deepest squad in Serie A, after Inter, following their summer business. Mourinho certainly has the talent at his disposal to make serious strides in year two and, crucially, the players have bought into his project. “We have a coach who knows how to win and improve us,” said defender Gianluca Mancini, while Abraham labelled the boss his “Uncle of Rome”.
While he certainly did have his moments, Mourinho exuded the serenity of Marcus Aurelius much more than he did the destructive ego of Nero upon his return to Italy, and such stoicism will serve the 59-year-old well in 2022/23 as Roma attempt to bridge the vast gap (25 points, to be exact) between themselves and the Serie A title winners.
“Talking about us and the Scudetto seems to me like trying to sell a product,” Mourinho said ahead of Roma’s season opener away at Salernitana on Sunday night. “For us, the Scudetto is the love of our fans, the sold-out stadium and the bond that we have built together. That is what we won already.”
The manager’s playing down of a Scudetto charge is understandable considering just how far off his side were last season, but there’s no denying that there’s a potential opportunity awaiting the buoyant Giallorossi and their fervent fanbase, whose welcoming of Dybala to the club – in the stadium and on the streets – was nothing short of breathtaking.
While Milan’s title triumph was a great story, they certainly weren’t a ‘great’ team and despite the returns of several big names to calcio this summer, there’s not one side you’d select as being overwhelmingly better than the others. Milan are yet to seriously build on their Scudetto win this summer, Juventus employ Max Allegri, while Napoli have lost three talismanic figures. Inter appear to be the strongest on paper, but there’s no guarantee that Romelu Lukaku will return to the frightening heights he reached under Conte. The Nerazzurri also lost Ivan Perisic, their 2021/22 Player of the Season.
Still, it’ll be a huge ask for Mourinho to inspire the bridesmaids to glory in 2022/23. While the connection between team, manager and supporters is nothing short of special, the Giallorossi were so far off last season for a reason. Roma’s record against the top six was abysmal and the manager’s tendency to cede control – even though it won’t catch him out as much in Italy as it eventually did in England – after going ahead will likely lead to the frustrating dropping of points. New signing Dybala, meanwhile, has been in a perpetual injury battle for the past 18 months and many will question whether he has the legs to lead a title bid.
Whether the special one can return Roma to the promised land this season remains to be seen. It’s a tough ask, that’s for sure, but Mourinho will know he’s got a group of players willing to die (no, not literally) for the cause and that’s a frightening prospect for the rest of Italy when it’s that guy patrolling the sidelines.
The Giallorossi had fleetingly risen from their ruins, now it’s time for José Mourinho to forge an Empire in the Eternal City.
James Cormack has been the managing editor of the popular Arsenal site “Pain in the Arsenal” for three years and was previously a managing editor of Old Juve, covering Juventus. He has written about world football for 90min since 2019. James has a vast wealth of expertise in covering the Premier League and Serie A.